Plane travel with monofin or tail?

[MerGrrl]

Hey all,

I recently purchased a Hydra monofin: http://www.sweammer.com/en/menu-principal/monopalme with the intention of having Sirenalia put it into a tail for me. I booked a business trip to Austin, thinking I could just put the monofin into my suitcase and give it to them when I arrived... surprise surprise, it doesn't fit.

Can I just take the fin on board with me? It's got a carrying bag, but I don't know where I would stow it. Alternatively, I still have the flat box it came in, so I suppose I could check it.

Any advice from those of you with experience here would be much appreciated!

[selkie13]

Well as long as you can fit it in your carry on it should be fine, after all you can't blow up a plane or kill the pilot with a monofin

[MerGrrl]

Right, but it doesn't fit in either carry on bag or my big suitcase.

[Arella]

I'm wondering the same thing I'm having a photo shoot with Raven and picking my tail up from her at the same time but I need to fly with it back to Michigan and it has such a huge fluke (competitor). I think maybe a large suitcase with padding?

[selkie13]

you could make a bag, might not be the most convenient, but at least you know everything will fit

[Miyu]

Maybe this will help? http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?395-Tail-Travel&highlight=travel

[Melosyne]

My competitor fin is way too large for suitcases or for taking it into the cabin, so I made a flat box from cardboard.
There is usually a special check-in for bulky luggage at the airport.
Every airline has its own bulky luggage restrictions. They can be found for example on their respective internet presences.
Usually it is cost-free and counts as usual luggage, but if it exceeds a certain weight or dimension, you might have to pay a fee.

Make shure to protect the fin inside really well. Luggage gets thrown around, stacked and squeezed mercilessly. ;)
I wrapped my fin tightly in an old blanked and taped rubber foam around the sharp edges.
After the flight, bulky baggage is sometimes delivered to a marked area or a special conveyor belt.

I never had problems, but I had to explain a few times what is inside this weirdly shaped box.
I can't wait for the faces when I have to tell them it's finally a mermaid tail. :D

[Lotus]

Checking a box like Melosyne is a great way to go. Just FYI- if you have a floppy fluke like a foil in a silicone tail, you can totally carry it on :)
I borrowed a mono fin bag to bring mine home from NC and took my tail on board- it fit in the overhead bin lol.